Australian Fiction reviews
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
She Who Became the Sun is the debut novel from Asian Australian writer Shelley Parker-Chan. An extraordinary hybrid between historical fiction and epic fantasy, this accomplished book is set in China…
Small Joys of Real Life by Allee Richards
When you read Allee Richards’ first novel, it’s tempting to make comparisons with Margaret Drabble’s groundbreaking The Millstone and Helen Garner’s Monkey Grip. In The Millstone, a brief relationshi…
The Airways by Jennifer Mills
Jennifer Mills is well known for experimenting with various writing styles, challenging the perceived boundaries and constructs of the novel. In a 2018 review for the Australian Book Review, James Br…
The Orchard Murders by Robert Gott
For our Crime Book of the Month we return to 1944 and gloomy, wartime Melbourne in Robert Gott’s The Orchard Murders, the fourth instalment in his Holiday Murders series. I’ve long been a fan of Gott…
When Things Are Alive They Hum by Hannah Bent
Friends, I have a treat for you. It is a double debut novel: Ultimo Press, the new publishing house in town, has released its first fiction novel by debut author Hannah Bent titled When Things Are Al…
The Golden Book by Kate Ryan
The title of Kate Ryan’s fiction debut The Golden Book doesn’t refer to the ‘Little Golden Books’ many of us read in early childhood. Instead, it is a handwritten journal in which friends Ali and Jes…
Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
A timely meditation on humanity’s place in the natural world and a swan dive into the dark ripples of domestic violence, Charlotte McConaghy’s latest novel is both a deep breath of fresh forest air a…
After Story by Larissa Behrendt
Burnt out after a disturbing homicide case, lawyer Jasmine takes a leap of faith and invites her mother Della to join her on a literary tour of England. Della has never travelled far beyond Frog Holl…
She is Haunted by Paige Clark
If you’ve felt stuck in a reading slump of late, stop what you’re doing and pick up a copy of She Is Haunted. The hype for this debut short-story collection from Chinese/American/Australian fiction w…
The Newcomer by Laura Elizabeth Woollett
When Judy Novak’s daughter, Paulina, doesn’t show up for lunch, it doesn’t mean anything but further frustration for Judy, who is used to her daughter’s failings. Later, after Judy has called and cal…
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